aiI had a great birthday on January 8th. I turned 18! But what I really remember is the terrible morning of February 24th when I woke up to explosions all around. 

aiEverything had been telling me that there would be a war. That night I dreamed of it, the situation was depressing. However, in my dream the explosions seemed to be only in my imagination. When I woke up, it all became clear.

aiThe first thing I did was call my parents, they were out of town and didn't hear the bombing. I told them: the war has begun.

aiI began to quickly throw what I thought I might need into a large sports bag. My student passport, things that were at hand. The sounds of explosions were everywhere. I had to go to my parents, I had to be close to my family.

aiAfter leaving the house, I started walking very fast to the nearest subway station. Because I had a lot of stuff, I couldn't run even though I was desperate to get there. I still could not believe this was really happening. It was surreal.

aiMeanwhile, I am in the stage of denial, I repeat to myself: I don't believe, I don't want it, it doesn't exist, because it can't exist. But it just happened here and now to me. I wanted to cry.

aiI tried to pull myself together. I didn't want to eat at all. I'll remember that scrambled egg for the rest of my life. My usual breakfast that stuck in my throat and just would not go down.

aiI began to follow the news and little by little it became easier for me. At some point I wanted to rewind time... to the eve of the war when I went to McDonald's with a friend, I remembered how we talked and joked.